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Aelyx Celtigar
Appearance Aelyx stands 6’0” tall, and has the build of a young noble caught between his love of books, and the expectation he take up the martial skills of Westeros; Lightly sinewed muscled defined by expected hours of practice under a strong king, tempered by a lightness to him that comes from an affinity for bookishness. He has hair the colour of white-gold and keeps it long and braided, with sides shaved clean. He has a pale skin tone, that trends toward tanning when he sails for long periods in the sun, but does show bruises and cuts as worse than they actually are. Aelyx speaks with the tenor of a young man, unsure of his place in the world, but with a spark of destiny behind him. Aelyx Celtigar has the eyes of House Celtigar lilac eyes when caught in the sun or else indigo when in the shade or in doors; they are neither brooding, nor bright, but bare a fire within that is hard to ignore. His face bears the unmistakable features of his family, pointed, thin eyebrows, like small thin daggers, and cheeks that sit high enough to catch the sun. He has a strong chest that narrows down towards a thin waist from practice with the axe and shield under his king and brother; while his fingers have grown long and slender from his love of reading, and scholarly endeavours. All together he has been considered a moderately handsome young Valyrian, but has no interest in marriage or family extension. He has trended towards reclusive habits, studying and pursuits of the mind as often as he can, turning his reputation into somewhat mysterious. He hasn’t abated this reputation amongst the smallfolk, taking instead to wearing dark coloured attire, and only fleetingly being seen in public, easy enough as his status as a minor cousin. It hasn’t helped his standing that his more martially minded twin is never far from sight behind him, a steel shadow. Biography Aelyx and his brother Aelys were born in the year 280AC, on a night fraught with a terrible thunderstorm that set Blackwater Bay alight with lightning, and the stone castles creaking under the sound of thunder. As their mother Alison Hardy went to give birth a great forked bolt of lightning struck the tower of Claw Island she was giving birth in. The septa’s prayed it would give no trouble to the mother, and the Maester assured everyone it was a freak accident; whispers though from the smallfolk followed for years after something mysterious and dark, had happened that night inside the castle. Alison gave birth to two boys, identical in appearance, with lungs strong as bellows, eyes as vibrant as pools of the shade of the evening, and hair already Celtigar white-gold. Aelyx was the firstborn, and it was he who was heralded as the future of the distant Celtigar branch. Aelys his brother came second, but only by several moments, and his was the destined role of guardian and shield. The years of their young childhood were marked by omen and circumstance. A shadow hung over Aelyx, a spectre that the superstitious of Claw Island called a mark of Old Valyria. In his first year Aelyx’s father, Valerys, swore he saw the shadow of a winged serpent flicker on the walls when holding the boy. In his second year, Allison feared the boy had a fever for the better part of six moons, but the Maesters could find nothing wrong. Whispers spread further from the castle, and soon the smallfolk connected the lightning with the new twins and the rumours grew ever stronger. On the twins’ fifth name day, a small steel crab toy fell into a furnace, and in front of family, Aelyx reached into the fires, then plucked it out, as calmly as could be, not fearing the flame. His hand untouched by fire, the crab as red and partially melted as a blacksmith's molten steel. Alison, fearing a curse from the seven, begged the Maester and Septon to work together; Valerys, with a love of Old Valyria, countered her, and tutored both his boys in the history of the old kingdom, and Aegon the failed conqueror. As it came to his later youth, Aelyx developed an affinity for this study, while Aelys was clearly more martially minded. Though both worked with shield and blade, Aelyx would often spend long hours with the Maesters learning his history, words, and numbers. It was near their eighth name day that Velarys, extremely sick with fever, instructed his Maester to remove the boys from their mother and deliver them to Jacaerys I. He feared Alison was too weak to see what was clear to himself. It was his dying wish to see his boys put forward as the truest of blood from Old Valyria, and under their King, they could learn nobility, and true Valyrian heritage. Jacaerys, recognising the same traits in Aelyx as Rhael Celtigar had presented not a few years earlier, took both of the twins in as his personal pages. The years as a page, and then a squire, to the King of the Claw proved crucially important for Aelyx, he grew to love reading, studying, and pursuits of the scholarly natures. He spent the mandatory time practicing with the blade, though he favoured the axe for its practicality, and the rest he spent in the royal library of Claw Island. Aelys beside him always witnessed what others did not often see, Aelyx staring into the charred pages of old diaries, or at statues of dragons from the days of Aegon’s failed conquest. The younger twin would often practice with sword and shield while Aelyx read. Ever the dutiful guardian for his brother, Aelys witnessed the first of the terrible dreams that would wrack Aelyx’s body on nights of thunderstorms. As the dreams grew more frequent, even happening on clear nights, Aelyx became even more reclusive, and from his chambers, the smallfolk often saw candles burning for days at a time. For fear of dreaming something ominous or dangerous, Aelyx began to avoid sleeping. His eyes grew darker, and the tiredness on his face made the circles on his eyes dark. By the time he was fifteen and nearing the end of his squiring, Aelyx had learned to balance minimal sleep, perhaps no more than three or four hours a night, with his duties. His brother learned to work around this also, he would train harder than the other squires, fall asleep faster, and get more rest than others from the same time. Aelyx had never excelled at the martial skills, though he was competent, it was his ability to advise on Valyrian matters that set him apart. By his seventeenth name day, with focus and time, and discussion with Jacaerys and Aelys, and Rhael, he learned to manage his dreams. He channeled them towards the ghosts of Kings past, and was visited by the visages of Valyrian dragonlords. Aelyx began to believe he was in some way connect more than the rest of his kin, perhaps it was his blood, or maybe his secretly held desire to revive the Valyrian faith on Claw Island. It was this belief, and realisation that revealed to him his father’s belief, under Jacaerys, the Celtigars would be able to ascend beyond even the Targaryen dynasty. In the more recent times, following his knighting for service rendered, and ongoing, Aelyx has taken to delving deep into his dreaming, deeper and longer than before, a skill to dream as soon as his eyes closed. Doing so because he has come to the belief there is some hidden meaning behind each one, something even his father did not make him aware of. His studies in Old Valyria led him on a journey that has given him clarity in his dreams, and a capacity to focus them, more often now than ever before they take him to Dragonstone. Not the Dragonstone of the modern era, but ancient Dragonstone, in all its glory, where he is free to walk the castle though it is empty. When he walks into the throne room, the ancient stone chair that Aegon and a handful of Celtigars had occupied, he often sees a man, hair braided down to his middle back; Always the man is facing away from Aelyx. No matter how fast or how much he pleads, the man never reveals his face and the young Valyrian is left trying to guess who the man is. This process of focusing on his dreams and being a recluse has lead Aelyx to reinforce the dark whispers that float around him from the smallfolk. His is an aura of mystique and superstition; he is not the glorious rebirth of the conqueror, nor is he is the majestic cutting figure of his King. Those traits are found more so in Aelys and his sword arm. Aelyx is not concerned with these rumours, and he is not in any hurry dispel them. He somewhat enjoys the fleeing of children when he walks the street, and the tremble of the lip when he speaks to the blacksmith's apprentice. He isn’t cruel but some king a long time ago, said it was better to be feared and loved, than it is to be feared or loved alone. Timeline * 280 - Aelyx is born on a night of one of the worst storms in recent memory. * 285 - Aelyx plucks a molten steel crab from the fire, he is unharmed * 290 - Aelyx is well into his squiring with Jacaerys I Celtigar, with his brother, and cousin Rhael. He begins to dream of things in distant places, and long dead people. He recognises none of them, they have features like his king, but ride dragons. * 293 - Aelyx’s dreams take him to take places and show him terrible visions, hideous deaths of kings, and monsters swallowing whole lands. He witnesses the flight of Aegon the Conqueror from Westeros. * 295 - The dreams are terrible still, he takes them somewhat to more recent events. He sees often a Valyrian King shouting orders from a throne of black stone, wreathed in fire. He dreams of the death of his father often as well, instead of passing though, his father is consumed by black flames. * 296 - The dragon twins are knighted for services rendered to the King of the Claw following service in the War of the Trident. They are knighted on the same day, at the same time, their king, beaming at them. * 297 - Aelyx learns to control his dreaming, channeling the journeys towards visiting his ancestors greatest moments. Coming to the belief that he can bring the Celtigars into a new dawn of Valyrian supremacy. He in particular being to have an assortment of dragonlords escort him in his dreams. Aerion Claw, a young man with bastard valyrian features, who assists the Maester of Claw Island, takes to joining Aelyx daily for reading, and ensuring his health due to his lack of sleep. * 298 - Is drawn through dream towards Dragonstone, and a recurring dream of witnessing a Valyrian sitting on the throne, his face obscured, his voice warped. It appears to be ancient Dragonstone, but it flickers between completed and resplendent and destroyed beyond recognition. * 299 - The twin dragons sail with their King and witness Dragonstone first hand from the deck of his flagship. They watched from afar as the Tully boy returned maimed, and his expedition shattered. Family Tree Here Supporting Characters * Aelys Celtigar - Brother (19) - Archetype: Warrior (Swords) * Aerion Claw - Friend (18) - Archetype: Medic Category:Valyrian Category:Clawman Category:House Celtigar